Search This Blog

A wide choice of topics covered from the dawn of history right up to present days . Many of these have a wider relevance than purely within the context of Strathearn . The author's viewpoint often is at variance with the accepted opinions espoused elsewhere eg The Jacobite Uprisings and The Reformation .

Viscount Melville his monument and the beauties of Dunira

Having recently movedhomefrom Crieff to the
picturesquevillage of Comriesomeseven milesto the west, I am
enjoyinga widevarietyof differentwalks with Bo my
border terrier as well as exploringa
number ofnewplaces in and round the village . Comrie has
an interesting heritage having played host over the centuries to Picts and
Romans and a diversity of others. The name reveals its Highland and Gaelic
origins meaning the confluence orjoining ofthe rivers – the Earn,
the Ruchill and Lednock .

Interestingly I have a regular encounter with one of
the areas better known historical characters, namely Viscount Melville aka
Baron Dunira or to go back to hisroots
– Henry Dundas . Although he has long since departed this mortal coil, his
memory and influence lives on in the spectacular obelisk that was erected in
his memory atop Dun More, the steep crag lying immediately to the north of the village.
Itdominates all aroundand indeed, it isthe firstthing that catchesmy eyewhen I openmy door of a morn !

Who, then, was Melville? Born in 1742 to Robert
Dundas, fourth Laird of Arniston in Midlothian and his second wife. His father
was a powerful political figure in his own right, being appointed Solicitor General
for Scotland in 1717 and Lord Advocate some three years later. Young
Henry wasthrust into legal politics at
an earlyage on thebackgroundof his father’spowerand influence andbecame SolicitorGeneralforScotlandwhen amere 24 years of age despite not havingqualified at the bar and being un elected politically ! It appears that
politics of that day were more than a little into favours, intrigue and corruption!
Dundas married into money and the estate of Melville Castle and became a Member
of Parliament for Edinburgh. He became closely aligned with the Prime Minister,
William Pitt the Younger. His influence and power were considerable. As Lord
Advocate of Scotland he had the right to determine which Scottish Peers should
sit in the House of Lords and as a Tory grandee he was empowered to choose Tory
candidates for election to the House of Commons. His abuse of power continued
when he appointed himself as Lord Privy Seal with a salary of £4 000 per annum!

British politicsare
complexto understand and indeed
interpret particularly in the 18th andearly 19th centuries . The “
United Kingdom” parliamentwasestablished in 1707 when the Parliaments of
England and Scotland united to forma
combined Parliament based in Westminster . Up until then Scotlandhad its own Parliament basedin Edinburgh andcomprising the “ Three Estates “ , that is
representatives of the Burghs, the clergy and the nobility .Itwasunicameral
, that is itconsisted of one chamber or
houseunlike that of the English Parliamentswhich wasby tradition bicameral that is two chambers or houses , namely the House
of Commonswhich was electedandthe House of Lordswhich was unelected
. This latter institution comprised Peers of the Realm and Church of England (Anglican)
Bishops. There wasconsiderable
oppositionwithin Scotlandto the Union of 1707 fomentedby the passingin 1705 in the English Parliament of The Aliens Actwhich threatened , failinga Union, to regardall Scotsas alien andto prevent Scotland tradingwith
England .The Scottish Parliament capitulated somewhat readily when it
transpiredthat a largesum ofmoney wouldbepaidto Scotlandto compensate for
their havingto absorb the English National
Debt . In fact thismoney , some £400
000 was paid outto membersof the Company of Scotland who had been shareholders in the Darien
Scheme , Scotland’sfailedattempt to establish a colony in Central
America. Most of the members of the Scottish Parliament had been involved thus
the pay back materially benefited them. This money in modern terms was
equivalent to £60 million pounds sterling! The “ new “ Parliament wasdecidedly
lop sided froma
Scottish view point having only 16 Scottish Peers electedby their fellow Scots Peers to sit in the
Lords and 45 elected Members of Parliament to sit in the Commons .

It was in this environment that Dundas managed to build a
political power base. His close relationship with Pitt , the Prime
Ministersaw him achieve a variety of
top postsranging from Secretary of State
for War to Treasurer of the Navy and
First Lord of the Admiralty . In 1803 Dundas was created Baron Dunira and
Viscount Melville. In Scotland his
powerand influence was such that he was often referredto as “King Henry the Ninth “ or the “
Uncrowned King of Scotland “ !

It was just after his after
his elevation to the peerage that Dundas aka Melville ran into stormy waters .
He was accused of misusing a million
poundswhen he was Treasurerto the Navy . It transpired that it had been
in fact the moneyhadbeen misappropriatedby someonehe hadappointed but it was hissignature was on thepaper . Themoney in fact
hadbeenusedfor speculative purposes
and actually been returned to the Navy Office . Dundashowevercarried the can . Subsequent investigationsrevealed that confidential papersconcerningthe use of themoney hadbeendeliberately
destroyed .He was impeachedin 1806before the House of Lordsbut withthestrong support of the Tory Peers , many of whom owed him favours , he
was acquitted , neveragain , however to
hold high office.

Although Dundas / Melville had his roots in the Lothians he apparently
was a regular visitor to Strathearn. According to the late David McNaughton in
his superbly detailed book” Upper Strathearn: From Earliest Times to Today “ {Jamieson & Munro: Stirling: } Melville would stay at
Ochtertyre near Crieff as a guest of Sir Patrick Murray who was “his confidant andadviser onagricultural affairs “ . More interestingly was the fact that in 1778,
Dundas, as he was then, met with the Drummond family whose Earldom of Perth
with its extensive lands had been forfeited after the 1745 Uprising. “ The family were in debt and Dundascame to its assistance , behaving with a
delicacy which made himappear ‘to
receive an obligation , in place ofconferring one ‘ .His motiveswere , perhaps , not wholly altruistic . Among the Drummondpossessions was the Estate of Dunira ,and Dundas’s
acquisition of this delightful place later , seemsto have been bound up with the Drummond
family’s indebtedness to him., and with the restorationof the forfeitedestates, in which his interest was now
revivedand whichhe was instrumentalin affecting four years later “ .

Dundas hadearlier
leasedDunira house and its shooting
rightsfrom the Commissioners of the
Forfeited Estatesand in 1787 he raised
a motionin Parliament that the post ’45
forfeitedestatesberestored to their original families . This not only sawhim acquireDunirabut enhancedhisreputationamongst an influential
sector of Scot’s society .

Dundasdied in 1811
andalthough hisreputation hadbeen somewhat tarnishedby his impeachment by Parliament , there were
more than a few positive attributes whichmore than offset his political follies . His pattern of improvements including
extensivedrainage works to Dunira and
the subsequent purchaseofadditional land in andaround the estatewere notable . Interestingly Dundasbuilta newhousefor himself in the grounds . In 1852the new owner, Sir David Dundas of Beechwood demolished
this and built a grand replacement .
Designedby William
Burn in the Scottish Baronial style itwas an impressive structure . In 1919 the estate was sold to a wealthy Glasgow
ship owner Alexander Macbeth who later gifted it to his son William .

Dunira House about 1910

What hadbeen
regardedas something unique about
Dunirawas the garden laid out around
the house . This had been commissionedby William and constructed to a designby the noted landscape architect Thomas Mawson in the 1920s . It took
some three yearsto completeat a reputed cost of some £3000 which in thosedayswas a considerable sum .During World War 2 the house was used as a
military convalescent home. In 1947therewerestill some patients in residence but the Macbeth family were already preparing
to move back in . A fire ravagedthe
building at thistime andshortly afterwards in 1948 William Macbeth
died . His widowsold the property in
1950 . It was finally demolished in 2006. Sadlywiththedestruction of thehouse, the gardensslumped into
declinereverting sadly to grass.
Interestingly Channel 4 Television in the UK ran aseriesentitled“ Lost Gardens “
featuringsomeeight gardenswhich hadvanished from viewand Dunira wasincluded amongst them .Sadly the
rose garden which had been recreatedfor
the programmehas notbeen maintainedand allowedto retreat back to the unkempt . An acquaintance of mine , author David Robertson ,also included Dunira in
hisrecent publication “ Lost Gardens of
Perthshire “.

All that remains of the gardens

Dunirahasbeen split up into avarietyofsmaller plots and siteswith a well-establishedcommunity in residence . Itisnot
quite however that place of thepast – that placethat Viscount Melvillechose to settle in all thosemany years ago !

Get link

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Google+

Email

Other Apps

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A number of years ago I purchased a small booklet on Glen Artney in the book shop
that existed for some years in Drummond Street Comrie. The
author was the late Gordon Booth FSA , a superb researcher and accomplished
author . He was not a local man since moving to the village from I believe the Island of Islay in the
Inner Hebrides. Since arriving in the area, he had
read and assimilated much of the history and folk lore of this part of
the Strath .I recall the late Tom Weir (
of the woolly hat ) doing a programme in his Weir’s Way series on Glen Artney
an d featuring Gordon Booth . Regrettably
all seven of his little books are out of print although they may be
available to borrow through Perth and Kinross Library Service. I have
incorporated partial excerpts from his writings
in this blog on the Glen which I duly acknowledge as a fitting tribute to his
diligence .

Glen Artney is some eight or so miles in length from the former
prisoner of war camp at Cultybraggan
near Com…

There has been
considerablediscussionrecently regarding thestate of decrepitude ofmany of the olderand betterknownbuildingsin Crieff . The Drummond Arms , the old
Parish Church in Church Street ( aka the Community Hall ) , the George or Strathearn
Hotel and the old Crown Hotel in East High Street . Onedoesnotto travel too far back in
timeto recallthefate ofmany other fine buildings
in Crieff and indeed in Strathearn on a wider basis . Although I devoteda small spacesomemonthsback to Ferntower HouseI finditso fascinating that I
havedecided I am going to elaborate furtherandincludemore informationabout it andits mostcelebrated occupant
General SirDavid Bairdwhose monument dominates so much of the
Strath . It was a building not renownedforany great architectural
meritbut rather for its part in the
overalltapestry oflife in the Strath over two centuries . Once the home of the Preston family in the 15th
century the lands of Ferntower were forfeited to the Crown .These
landsseemed separate …

An Account Of One Of The Most Bloody Political/Religious Battles Fought In This Part Of Scotland The Battle of Tibbermore /Tibbermure

Victory by the Back Door The surge in the amount of violence and mayhem in the Middle
East and in targeted European (including British) locations has caused much grief and sadness to innocent families
and individuals . Atrocities carried out
in the name of religion are not something
that has suddenly occurred .They
have been part of society for longer than we might imagine .

The period of the 1640s in Scotland was one of violent confrontation between the
Royalists faction supporting the Stewart monarch Charles 1 and the fiercely
Presbyterian adherents known as Covenanters . Despite the efforts of James VI
to introduce Bishops into the Kirk , the Covenanters with their
power base in the south and south
west of Scotland were vociferous and militant in pursuit of their cause . In
1644 they marched south into
England to lend support to the Engl…

Retired part time lecturer at Perth College and former rugby correspondent to our local paper the Strathearn Herald .Former President and a Honorary Member of Crieff & Strathearn Rugby Club. Written 4 books on the local history of Strathearn .